Portugal, Anthropology in

Portuguese anthropology had its beginnings with the work of late nineteenth‐century folklorists, ethnographers, linguists, archaeologists, and physical anthropologists, in tune with international debates and in parallel with their European counterparts. In the twentieth century, physical anthropology had modest yet uninterrupted development whereas the social and cultural components of the discipline had a fragmented history, mostly for political reasons. There were ethnographic works conducted in Portugal and its colonies but researchers could not expand the analysis into some of the social issues and political contexts directly related to the subject of study. After the end of the authoritarian regime in 1974, social and cultural anthropology made up for lost time and dozens of works on Portugal were conducted in the 1980s and beyond. By the end of the twentieth century, the field was vibrant, diverse, and international, with hundreds of graduates and a large number of research projects, books, and journals.